Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken — This Crockpot chicken recipe is packed with pineapple flavor thanks to the combination of pineapple preserves and canned pineapple. Serve it over rice for a quick weeknight dinner!
Table of Contents
- Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken
- Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken Ingredients
- How to Make Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken
- Hawaiian Chicken FAQs
- Tips for the Best Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken
- What to Serve with Hawaiian Chicken
- Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken with Pineapple Recipe
- More Chicken Recipes with Pineapple:
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pineapple Chicken
Dinner that reminds me of dining outdoors in Hawaii with my toes in the sand and gentle waves crashing in the background is my kind of dinner. Especially if it’s ridiculously easy because my slow cooker does the work.
So many layers of sweet, tangy, and savory flavors will have everyone asking for seconds. It reminds me of a pineapple cousin to my Slow Cooker Orange Chicken, but with a slight kick from the Asian chili-garlic sauce I used. I used 2 heaping tablespoons, but you can decrease the amount if you prefer milder flavors.
There’s plenty of cooking sauce leftover in the bottom of the slow cooker, which I spoon generously over the chicken, rice or noodles, and vegetables.
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken Ingredients
I just love pineapple, and while I usually think of using it as a dessert ingredient or use it in smoothies and cocktails (although I’ve gone savory with pineapple), this slow cooker pineapple chicken recipe incorporates pineapple three ways along with juicy, moist, and tender chicken.
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Hawaiian chicken Crockpot recipe:
- Pineapple preserves
- Canned pineapple chunks
- Ketchup
- Soy sauce
- Brown sugar
- Rice wine vinegar
- Lime juice
- Seseame oil
- Asian chili garlic sauce
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Spices
- Chicken breasts
- Cornstarch
How to Make Crockpot Hawaiian Chicken
Making Hawaiian chicken in a Crockpot requires just 10 minutes of active prep on your part. Here’s an overview of how the Hawaiian pineapple chicken is made in the slow cooker:
- Prep the sauce: Add the pineapple preserves, juice from the canned pineapple, ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, chili-garlic sauce, garlic, ginger, salt, and pepper into a bowl.
- Dredge the chicken: To a large, gallon-sized plastic bag, add the chicken and cornstarch. Seal the bag and toss to coat chicken evenly.
- Assemble: Place chicken in the bottom of a greased slow cooker. Add the pineapple chunks over the chicken, followed by the sauce mixture.
- Cook: Cook covered on high for about 2 hours or on low for about 4 hours. Slow cookers tend to cook at different rates (it depends on the brand, etc), so begin checking your chicken about 45 minutes before it’s supposed to be finished cooking, just to be safe.
- Garnish and serve: Add Hawaiian chicken and pineapple to a plate with as much extra cooking sauce spooned over the top as desired. I like to garnish my slow cooker pineapple chicken with fresh cilantro and green onions, but they’re completely optional.
Hawaiian Chicken FAQs
I haven’t made this recipe without a slow cooker so I can’t give specifics about how to tweak it if you don’t have one. I have other chicken recipes listed below the recipe card that you can try until you can make this slow cooker Hawaiian chicken recipe.
Yes! The chicken will cook low and slow until it’s tender and cooked through. It doesn’t cook so slowly that you need to worry about bacteria developing or anything like that!
Not for this recipe, no! I like to dirty as few dishes as possible, so I always add the raw chicken and the pineapple sauce straight to the slow cooker.
No! This slow cooked Hawaiian chicken needs just 2 hours on high or 4 horus on low to cook through. Once chicken is fully cooked, it needs to come out of the slow cooker. If you cook it for longer, the meat will become tough and rubbery.
You may purchase frozen chicken breasts for this recipe, but you must thaw them completely before adding to the slow cooker. Do NOT add frozen pieces of chicken to the slow cooker; the recipe will not turn out if you you do that.
The pineapple in this recipe adds tons of flavor and texture, and the enzymes in the pineapple also help to break down the chicken and make it tender and moist.
Tips for the Best Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken
When you add the sauce to the chicken and pineapple chunks, use the back of a spoon to spread the sauce into every nook and cranny of the chicken. You want the sauce to completely coat the chicken as it cooks so that you get the best flavor.
If you hate doing the dishes like I do, I recommend investing in some slow cooker liners and using one for this recipe.
This way, you can just grab the bag of Hawaiian chicken right out of the slow cooker and put the entire machine back into your pantry right away.
What to Serve with Hawaiian Chicken
I like to keep things simple and just serve the slow cooker Hawaiian pineapple chicken over jasmine or basmati rice, brown rice, cauliflower rice, or quinoa. It also pairs well with the following:
- Grilled Mixed Veggies
- 12 Superfoods Salad
- Waldorf Salad
- Chopped Salad (omit the chicken)
- Roasted Mixed Vegetables
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Chicken with Pineapple
Ingredients
- ¾ cup pineapple preserves or jam
- one 20-ounce can pineapple chunks, drained; set aside pineapple chunks
- ½ cup ketchup
- ⅓ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 to 2 tablespoons Asian chili-garlic sauce, found in the Asian aisle of most major grocery stores; sriracha may be substituted
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced or pressed with a garlic press
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- ½ teaspoon pepper, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1.75 to 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
- ⅓ cup cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro leaves, finely minced for garnishing
- 3 tablespoons green onions, sliced into thin rounds for garnishing
Instructions
- To a large bowl, add the pineapple preserves, pineapple juice (save and set aside the pineapple chunks), ketchup, soy sauce, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, lime juice, sesame oil, chili-garlic sauce, garlic, ginger, salt, pepper, and whisk to combine; set sauce aside.
- Line a 5 to 6-quart slow cooker with a liner if using one. I prefer to use liners for easy cleanup.
- Drizzle olive oil over bottom of the liner or slow cooker; set aside.
- To a large, gallon-sized ziptop plastic bag, add the chicken, cornstarch, seal bag, and toss to coat chicken evenly. Add chicken to slow cooker, evenly distributed.
- Add the pineapple chunks over the chicken, evenly distributed
- Pour pineapple sauce mixture over the top, using a spoon to distribute the sauce if necessary, making sure all pieces are coated.
- Cook covered on high for about 2 hours or on low for about 4 hours. If cooking on high, start checking at 90 minutes (mine was done at 1 hour 40 minutes) and if cooking on low, start checking at 3 hours. All slow cookers vary so cook until chicken is done (reaches 165F on an instant read thermometer).
- Add chicken and pineapple to a plate with as much extra cooking sauce spooned over the top as desired, garnish with cilantro, green onions, and serve immediately. Dish is best warm and fresh but will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Reheat gently as desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
More Chicken Recipes with Pineapple:
Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken Skewers — Fast, easy, and loaded with sweet-and-savory pineapple teriyaki flavor! Made with just a handful of basic ingredients, these grilled chicken skewers will be a family FAVORITE!
Jerk Chicken with Caramelized Pineapple and Mango – Easy and ready in 15 minutes! Dinner that tastes like a tropical vacation is a guaranteed hit!
Grilled Pineapple Chicken — EASY, ready in 10 minutes, and the flavor of the juicy chicken makes you feel like you’re on a TROPICAL island!! Grilled peppers on the side makes for the PERFECT summer meal that’s HEALTHY and DELICIOUS!!
Hawaiian Grilled Chicken and Pineapple — Transports you to Hawaii with every bite of this tender, juicy chicken and the grilled pineapple seals the deal!!
Grilled Cajun Chicken and Pineapple Foil Packets — EASY, tasty, ready in 15 minutes, HEALTHY, and since it’s made in a foil pack on the grill, there’s ZERO cleanup!! Perfect for easy-breezy summer meals!!
Sheet Pan Pineapple Teriyaki Chicken — Fast, EASY, and loaded with fabulous teriyaki flavor! Tender chicken, juicy pineapple, and crisp-tender veggies make make for a DELISH one-pan meal with zero cleanup.
this was unbelievable–best crock pot meal I’ve ever made!!
this was unbelievable–best crock pot meal I’ve ever made!!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad this was the best Crock Pot meal you’ve ever made!
Thought I could use fresh pineapple until I just re-read the recipe and noticed it’s a can. Would fresh be ok, and how much juice? Going to try making it tomorrow for our tropical themed dinner during lockdown.
I’ve only made it with canned so not sure what to tell you…I would say 1 to 1.5 cups just guessing.
Tried this tonight, also could not find the Pineapple preserves, but after eating this Apricot or Orange would be delicious. I wish I had browned the chicken first, though. That does add an extra step but the chicken just looked very pale. I think it would have added depth of flavor. My sauce was thin and runny so I added about a teaspoon or so of some more cornstarch to about a 1/4 of orange juice and added it after about 1.5 hours of cooking on high and that helped thicken it up. Next time I might add minced red peppers. Oh and P.S. — yes, you MUST use Sesame Oil in this recipe as stated above or it will not taste right at all! I served over rice and a side/appetizer of Edamame.
Tried this tonight, also could not find the Pineapple preserves, but after eating this Apricot or Orange would be delicious. I wish I had browned the chicken first, though. That does add an extra step but the chicken just looked very pale. I think it would have added depth of flavor. My sauce was thin and runny so I added about a teaspoon or so of some more cornstarch to about a 1/4 of orange juice and added it after about 1.5 hours of cooking on high and that helped thicken it up. Next time I might add minced red peppers. Oh and P.S. — yes, you MUST use Sesame Oil in this recipe as stated above or it will not taste right at all! I served over rice and a side/appetizer of Edamame.
Thanks for trying the recipe and glad you will make it again since you said next time.
I agree, browning down add extra flavor as well as give more color, but it’s an extra step. I wrote this recipe years ago, long before the all-in-one slow cookers and Instant Pot that you can do it all in one machine like we have now, and so tried to streamline the amount of transferring/steps for people, but of course feel free to give that method a try. Let me know if you try it.
Could I meal prep and throw all these ingredients in to a bag together to use a day or two later?
I would say no because between the sugars, acids, oils, etc. it will start to break down the chicken and I would prep the day of, or at most maybe? the night before but I haven’t tried it so cannot speak to results.
Can this recipe be used as oven baked? What oven temps would I use and how long/ Thanks
I’m sure you could bake it I just haven’t tested it that way so can’t give specifics on what to do but you can experiment on your own and see how things go.
So good, even better than I expected.
Sweet and spicy and super easy. A weeknight keeper for sure. I served it with brown rice and steamed broccoli. Loved it. Thanks again!
Thanks for the five star review and I’m glad it was even better than expected and that it’s a keeper!
Has anyone tried doubling this recipe? Would I cook it for the same amount of time?
I haven’t ever made a large-batch of this. It would depend on your slow cooker’s size if you need to increase cooking time. Unless you have a really large slow cooker, yes you probably will have to increase the cooking time since you are cramming way more chicken into an average sized cooker, if that’s what you have.
I found my pineapple preserves at Giant. Giant has their own brand of jam and preserves and I found it under their label. They didn’t have the Smuckers version of it, even though they had a ton of different varieties.
Looking forward to trying this! I had to hunt for the pineapple jam, but finally found it at a grocery store in the Toronto area called Sobey’s (for all your GTA readers!).
Glad you found it and hope you enjoy the recipe!
Oh my goodness, this dish looks so beautiful. I actually had chicken planned for dinner tonight. What luck that i found this just in time before i started my prep because i love tossing a chicken in the slow cooker and letting it do its own thing all day. I’m always looking for ways to jazz up a simple chicken because even though my kids love it any way it comes out (even plain with no seasoning whatsoever) my red meat devouring husband gets bored with chicken easily.
I always wonder about recipes that call for seseme oil though. does it really affect the taste of the dish? because even though i love cooking meat with pineapple and always keep it on hand the seseme oil is not readily available in my area. could i just sub it out for olive oil or would that make everything taste way different? honestly, I’ve never used it before so i have no idea how it affects a dish.
Sesame oil has a VERY distinct flavor and often sesame oil (along with soy sauce) create a distinctly Asian-vibe that you really cannot get without it. Olive oil won’t give you the same taste, at all. You could use it, knowing that you won’t end up with the flavor the dish was intended to have, it’s not like it will ‘ruin’ the dish but I say order some on Amazon to keep. A small bottle will last you a long time.
oops..i meant the chicken was MOIST!
I couldn’t find pineapple jam so I used Orange Marmalade. couldn’t find that size pineapple so had to buy 2 cans of smaller size (I only buy organic) and I made sure to not use all that juice but still ended up like I was cooking the chicken in liquidy broth so guess I used too much. BUT I will say it turned out tasting really good! The chicken was really most! Don’t see why there was a need to coat the chicken with corn starch though?
Corn starch will thicken sauces generally speaking. However sounds like you added additional liquid so it probably wasn’t going to thicken up all that much. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This looks so good. Have you tried making it in a skillet? Do you think I would need to add cornstarch to the sauce ingredients if I cooked it on the stovetop?
Haven’t tried it in a skillet so can’t say for sure. You may need some corn starch but I haven’t played around with it so can’t speak from experience.
Can’t wait to try but!!! I am having problems with finding white wine vinegar, any suggestions or a substitution that can be used would be helpful. thank you..
It’s rice wine vinegar, not white wine vinegar, and rice wine vinegar is usually found in the Asian aisle of the grocery store and it’s a VERY common item. Check there and you should be able to find it. I know Trader Joe’s has their own version and there are many brands at regular markets as well to choose from.